


Freedom worth Fighting (for)

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: Playing with Pendulums [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-19 16:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: Things have a way of coming full circle...
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Urahara Kisuke
Series: Playing with Pendulums [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1077834
Comments: 25
Kudos: 827
Collections: UraIchi Prompt Challenge #4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UraIchi Prompt Challenge #4  
> Prompt: 039. Turn Back the Pendulum Era

It’s chaos out there.

Ichigo wades through the brawling mob that’s growing by the second, spilling into the buildings without a care, trying not to wince at the property damage he can already see. At this rate, he’s going to have to – no, unfortunately, Tensa Zangetsu is not a flashy bankai, so even if he _did_ go bankai he’s not going to be able to stop the brawl on his own. Even Captain Kiganjō, who is this generation’s Kenpachi, does not have sufficient reiatsu to cow an entire Division into submission.

“What –” he grunts, catching someone before they knock him over, and then has to take down the three more who come charging after him.

What is even going on here? Brawls of this extent aren’t as common as one might think at the Eleventh; most times they are started by some minor altercation or another, and can be contained to a courtyard or two. This… it seems like the whole _Division_ is being dragged into it.

In fact, now that he’s thinking about it, where _is_ Kiganjō? He doesn’t see his captain anywhere, even though brawls are his favourite pastime and he’s normally found in the thick of it. Ichigo leaps onto a roof, scanning the crowd, but it’s all a blur –

And then he realises exactly why Kiganjō is not carving his way through the thick of the brawl like he usually does.

For a moment the world does not compute, like he stepped through the door of his office to find himself in an alternate reality, but on the heels of stunned horror is the realisation that _he_ has to be the one to do something.

Because –

Ichigo carefully does not think about it, reaching deep inside himself, until his fingers are skimming the reservoir of reiatsu he normally tries not to touch – because being challenged _yet again_ by Kiganjō means no work gets done and his desk gets destroyed – and then he activates bankai.

“ **EVERYBODY STOP NOW**!”

The roof cracks under the sheer force of his reiatsu, and the shinigami in the three nearest courtyards wince, clutching at their ears. But the brawl has stopped, and that’s all that matters.

“ **THOSE WHO NEED IT, GO TO THE FOURTH** ,” Ichigo barks. Most of them won’t; but they keep first aid supplies in the storeroom for that reason. He considers the situation, and then adds, “ **THOSE OF YOU WHO SAW WHAT HAPPENED, RAISE YOUR HANDS**.”

He’s not expecting hands to shoot into the air from at least six different courtyards, and even more shinigami spilling out from the buildings with their hands raised.

Ichigo points at the… at the courtyard Kiganjō is in. “ **THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE HERE FROM THE _START_ , STAY. THE REST OF YOU, TO YOUR BARRACKS.**” He pauses for a moment, and then tacks on, “ **ANYONE WHO CONTINUES FIGHTING IS BANNED FROM DRINKING FOR A _MONTH_.**”

He jumps down to the offending courtyard, strides over to Kiganjō, and bends down to check for a pulse for good measure, though he doesn’t think he’ll find one. It’s not like he’s a stranger to how the Eleventh Division operates – every officer’s seat is up for contention, from the twentieth to the captain’s, that’s how the tradition _works_. Ichigo has had to beat off his fair share of challengers back when he first joined the Division five years ago, until he got it through their thick skulls that he far exceeds their current level of strength.

People like to talk about how Ichigo is the fastest shinigami to ever make lieutenant (first day after graduation), but it’s really just because of how the Eleventh operates that he even had a chance.

He straightens up, looking around, and frowns. He recognises all of these faces gathered around him right now, which means that it can’t have been any of them: Kiganjō wipes the floor with them on a weekly basis.

“Somebody tell me what happened,” he orders with a tired sigh.

Strangely, none of them made a move to speak.

He really doesn’t have the time for this odd reticence. He has damage reports to write, books to balance, wounded to see to, and a mess hall to inspect to make sure dinner can still be served on time. Turning in a circle, Ichigo points to the first seated officer he can see. “Matsuda. Report.”

Matsuda, who is normally a blunt, forthcoming man, works his throat for a moment.

Ichigo looks to the heavens for patience. “At least tell me you know who our new captain is.” He’s going to have to get started on _that_ set of paperwork too… at least he’s used to filling in Change of Seat forms, given how many of them he does a week.

Slowly, Matsuda nods jerkily.

“Great.” At least _something_ is going right. Mentally, Ichigo is already rifling through his drawers, trying to remember if he has all the forms he’ll need. “Got a name?”

“Uh.” Matsuda swallows, looking around like he’s silently begging for help. The move is so uncharacteristic that Ichigo can’t help but stare. “It’s your husband, Lieutenant.”

Ichigo’s thoughts screech to a halt.


	2. Chapter 2

He does not manage to make it back to his office or get any paperwork started.

Ichigo is still standing there, trying to figure out what to do with Kiganjō’s body, when the lieutenant of the First Division comes into the courtyard unannounced – because the gates are unmanned, he abruptly realises, because he has just sent everyone back to the barracks.

He needs to –

Ichigo does a few breathing exercises, pushing the edge of hysteria and anxiety away. He needs to handle Sasakibe first, and then get his Division settled so that they will not erupt into another brawl the moment he sets foot out of the gates, and then find Kisuke, and then get a head-start on the paperwork. Approximately in that order.

Sasakibe comes to a stop in front of him, looks down at Kiganjō’s body, and makes a note. He’s carrying a sheaf of papers in one hand, his demeanour stately and unruffled.

“The Sōtaichō’s office has just received an allegation that an assassination attempt was successfully carried out upon Kiganjō Kenpachi, Captain of the Eleventh Division,” he announces.

“No!” Ichigo finds himself shouting, and makes an effort to tone down his volume. Sasakibe is a strict but fair man; he is only doing his job here. “That is _not_ what happened!”

He doesn’t know what happened, but there is no way Kisuke came to the Eleventh with the _intention_ of killing Kiganjō today. That makes no sense, that’s not the kind of person Kisuke is, and _Yoruichi_ would never approve of such a hit.

How did the _First_ get wind of the situation so fast?

Sasakibe eyes him. “So this was not –” he consults the notes that he is holding in one hand, “– a ploy to bring an entire division under the control of the Shiba clan?”

Ichigo gapes at him. Sure, everybody knows that the Second belongs to the Shihōin, and the Sixth might as well fly the Kuchiki crest, but –

“The _Eleventh_?” he repeats, just to make sure he didn’t hear wrong. “Why…” he trails off helplessly, spreading his arms. Why would anybody want the _Eleventh_? Thanks to the challenger system, their officers change practically every other day – although at least the casualty rate has gone down ever since Ichigo went behind Kiganjō’s back to add a sub-clause that you can only get your opponent’s seat if they _live through_ the challenge. It’s a paperwork nightmare to have to keep submitting the Change of Seat forms, office requisition forms – never mind that these new officers won’t use their desks and likely won’t last the week anyway…

Sasakibe sends him a sympathetic smile, marking something down on the thick sheaf he’s holding. Being the recipient of those redundant forms, he likely gets it better than anyone else.

“Can you tell me what you know?” he asks, a little more gently.

Ichigo shakes his head helplessly. “I was – I was in my office. Doing paperwork,” he adds, and Sasakibe flashes the hint of a smile. “There’s this ruckus going on outside, getting louder by the minute, and then I hear the sound of swords being drawn everywhere so I went out to take a look.” He spreads his hands, gesturing at the destruction all around them. “By the time I came out, there’s a division-wide brawl, and I couldn’t figure out what’s going on until I saw Kiganjō’s body lying in one of the courtyards. So I went bankai –”

“So it was not _you_ who killed former-Captain Kiganjō,” Sasakibe interrupts.

“What?” Ichigo scrubs a hand through his hair, the accusation so out of left-field that he can’t even process it for a moment. “You think _I_ – no, no, that is not what happened,” he denies. “There are at least two hundred witnesses who can tell you that it wasn’t me.”

“So it does fulfil the criteria for captaincy, then,” Sasakibe notes, marking down something else on his papers. “Do you have the name of the new captain?”

Now he understands why Matsuda didn’t want to say a thing. Still – there’s no way to keep _this_ under wraps…

“Urahara Kisuke.”

* * *

It’s way past dinner by the time Ichigo manages to trudge home.

Kisuke had been nowhere to be found.

Ichigo was stonewalled at every direction in the Second, and even when he managed to shove past the officers there he saw that Kisuke’s desk was bare, like nobody had ever sat there. Yoruichi was in an emergency meeting of some sort, and Ichigo had only managed to wait for an hour before he wandered off in frustration.

With no recourse left, Ichigo rushed home, hoping beyond hope that Kisuke was here –

The door to Kisuke’s room is open. Kisuke himself is sitting against the wall, eyes downcast and staring at nothing, and the sight makes Ichigo practically collapse from relief. He doesn't seem to be injured – in fact, if Ichigo hasn't been running around the whole afternoon, he wouldn’t have been able to tell something drastic had gone down just from the look on Kisuke’s face.

“We need to talk,” Ichigo pants, almost missing a step in his haste to rush up the stairs.

Kisuke eyes him warily, but nods and gestures at him to come in.

**Author's Note:**

> Bet nobody expected me to go this route, but this was planned since Dealing with Differences.  
> [cywscross's UraIchi Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/ADFnKTZ#_=_) | [Starrie's fic sneak preview server](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Starrie's Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
